AmblesideOnline: The Story of Mankind by Hendrick Van Loon

Subjects and historical periods inThe Story of Mankind by Hendrick Van LoonAudio of this book at Librivox

Copies from 1921 (public domain editions that are online) stop around chapter 64. The chapters after that are in the later revised editions, but are not public domain and will not be in free online texts.

Forward

very short chapters:
ch 1 The Setting of the Stage - evolutionary beginnings of earth
ch 2 Our Earliest Ancestors - cave men
ch 3 Prehistoric Man
ch 4 Hieroglyphics: The Egyptians Invent the Art of Writing . . . 3000BC-50 AD?
ch 5 The Nile Valley: The Beginning of Civilisation in the Valley of the Nile - 2000's BC
ch 6 The Story of Egypt: The Rise and Fall of Egypt - 1700 BC-30 BC
ch 7 Mesopotamia--the Second Centre of Eastern Civilisation - 3500 BC?-?
ch 8 The Sumerians: The Sumerian Nail Writers, Whose Clay Tablets . . . - 2000 BC?-1750 BC-538 BC
ch 9 Moses: The Story of Moses, the Leader of the Jewish People - 1440 BC?
ch 10 The Phoenicians, Who Gave Us Our Alphabet - 1050 BC
ch 11 The Indo-European Persians Conquer the Semitic and the Egyptian World - 500 BC<
ch 12 The Aegean Sea: The People of the Aegean Sea Carried the Civilisation of Old . . . - 1180 BC?
ch 13 The Greeks: Meanwhile the Indo-European Tribe of the Hellenic War . . . - 1500 BC?
ch 14 The Greek Cities That Were Really States - up to 300BC
ch 15 Greek Self-Government: The Greeks Were the First People to Try . . . - 600 BC?
ch 16 Greek Life: How the Greeks Lived - 500 BC
ch 17 The Greek Theatre: The Origins of the Theatre, the First Form of Public Amusement - 400 BC
ch 18 The Persian Wars: How the Greeks Defended Europe Against an Asiatic . . . - 480-490 BC
ch 19 Athens vs. Sparta: How Athens and Sparta Fought a Long and Disastrous . . . - 404 BC
ch 20 Alexander the Great: Alexander the Macedon Establishes a Greek World . . . - 356-323 BC
ch 21 A Summary: A Short Summary of Chapters 1 to 20

Longer chapters:
ch 22 Rome and Carthage: The Semitic Colony of Carthage on the Northern Coast . . . - 200 BC
ch 23 The Rise of Rome: How Rome Happened - 190 BC
ch 24 The Roman Empire: How the Republic of Rome, After Centuries of Unrest . . . - 100 BC-9 AD
ch 25 Joshua of Nazareth: The Story of Joshua of Nazareth, Whom the Greeks Called Jesus - 62 AD
ch 26 The Fall of Rome: The Twilight of Rome - 300's-400's AD
ch 27 The Rise of the Church: How Rome Became the Centre of the Christian World - 33AD-600 AD
ch 28 Mohammed: Ahmed, the Camel Driver, Who Became the Prophet of . . . - 600's-732 AD
ch 29 Charlemagne: How Charlemagne, the King of the Franks, Came to Bear the Title . . . - 742-814 AD
ch 30 The Norsemen: Why the People of the Tenth Century Prayed the Lord to Protect . . . - 700's-1066 AD
ch 31 Feudalism: How Central Europe, Attacked from Three Sides, Became an Armed . . . - 1000 AD
ch 32 Chivalry - 1000-1400
ch 33 Pope vs. Emperor: The Strange Double Loyalty of the People of the Middle Ages . . . 1000's-1200's
ch 34 The Crusades: But All These Different Quarrels Were Forgotten When the Turks . . . - 1100-1200's
ch 35 The Mediaeval City: Why the People of the Middle Ages Said That "City Air . . . - 1066-1485
ch 36 Mediaeval Self-Government: How the People of the Cities Asserted Their Right . . . - 1066-1485
ch 37 The Mediaeval World: What the People of the Middle Ages Thought of the . . . - 1066-1485
ch 38 Mediaeval Trade: How the Crusades Once More Made the Mediterranean . . . - 1066-1485
ch 39 The Renaissance: People Once More Dared To Be Happy Just Because They . . . - 1300's-1400's
ch 40 The Age of Expression: The People Began to Feel the Need of Giving . . . - 1471-1500's
ch 41 The Great Discoveries: But Now That People Had Broken Through the Bonds . . . - 1400's-1500's
ch 42 Buddha and Confucius: Concerning Buddha and Confucius - 400's BC-500 BC
ch 43 The Reformation: The Progress of the Human Race is Best Compared to a Gigantic . . . - 1400's-1500's
ch 44 Religious Warefare: The Age of the Great Religious Controversies - (reformation and inquisition) 1600's
ch 45 The English Revolution: How the Struggle Between the "Divine Right of Kings . . . - 14-1700
ch 46 The Balance of Power: In France, on the Other Hand, the "Divine Right of Kings . . . - 16-1700's
ch 47 The Rise of Russia: The Story of the Mysterious Muscovite Empire Which . . . - 15-1600's
ch 48 Russia vs. Sweden: Russia and Sweden Fought Many Wars to Decide Who . . . 16-1700's
ch 49 The Rise of Prussia: The Extraordinary Rise of a Little State in a Dreary Part . . . - 1740
ch 50 The Mercantile System: How the Newly Founded National or Dynastic States . . . - 1700's
ch 51 The American Revolution: At the End of the Eighteenth Century Europe Heard . . . - 16-1700's
ch 52 The French RevolutionThe Great French Revolution Proclaims the Principles . . . - late 1700's
ch 53 Napoleon - 1769-1815
ch 54 The Holy Alliance: As Soon as Napoleon Had Been Sent to St. Helena . . . - 1815
ch 55 The Great Reaction: They Tried to Assure the World an Era of Undisturbed . . . - 1815-1860
ch 56 National Independence: The Love of National Independence, However, Was Too Strong . . . - 1821-1871
ch 57 The Age of the Engine: But While the People of Europe Were Fighting for Their . . . - 1777-1831
ch 58 The Social Revolution: The New Engines Were Very Expensive and Only People . . . - 1777-1848
ch 59 Emancipation: The General Introduction of Macinery Did Not Bring About . . . - 1831-1867
ch 60 The Age of Science: But the World Has Undergone Another Change Which . . . - 1400's-1846
ch 61 Art: A Chapter of Art - ancient Greece to modern art
ch 62 Colonial Expansion and War: The Last Fifty Years, Including Several Explanations - late 1800's
ch 63 A New World: The Great War Which Was Really The Struggle For a New and Better World - speculative: who will lead us into the future?
ch 64 As it Shall Ever Be (half a page)

Chapters added to recent (1984/1994) editions:
ch 65 After Seven Years - 1914-1919
ch 66 The United States Comes of Age: Being the First of Several Chapters on Current History Written . . . - 1922-1929
ch 67 The "Axis" Partners: The "Crash That Was Felt Around - 1917-1937
ch 68 Isolation and Appeasement: How the Axis Partners Began to Divide - 1932-1939
ch 69 The Atlantic Charter: How the "War of Nerves" Gave Way to . . . - 1939-1941
ch 70 Global War: How the Axis Was Defeated in the "Battle of Production" - 1941-1945
ch 71 The United Nations: How the United States Fell Heir to World Leadership - 1944-1950
ch 72 A Turbulent Peace: How the Cold War Has Developed in Europe as Open Conflict Erupts - 1951-1972
ch 73 An Old Order Gives Way: As Memories of the Wars of the First Half of the Twentieth . . . - 1960's
ch 74 Spaceship Earth: We Must Maintain the Earth's Life-Support Systems or Pay the Penalty - 1961-1972
ch 75 The Earth as a Global Village: How the Marvels of Science and Technology Have Made - what's our future?
ch 76 Approaching the Year 2000: The Perils and Hopes of Our Age - computers, environmentalism, oil, terrorism
ch 77 An Animated Chronology (an illustrated timeline)